Fly-In Community Grass Strip

[SoonerAviator]

Curious on the thoughts from the gallery on this runway, given very little information at the moment.

Backstory: Parents are looking to acquire more land, and a parcel came up that has about 5 acres of mostly wooded area but is in a gated community . . . turns out this "community" is about 10 properties, 6 of which have houses on them and are attached to a turf runway. I don't know the particulars just yet, but I was doing some Google Map investigations on the runway. Appears to be about 3,000' x 60', with an 800' extension on the South end which is about 50% narrower than the main runway. I don't know how they use it, if it's a displaced threshold or fully usable. Anyone see any obvious problems? There are a few ponds on either side of the runway, but those are about the only obstacles, nothing off of the North end (aside from a barbed wire fence) for probably 1/4 mile, and the South is open for another 1/2 mile+ aside from scrub trees and general unimproved land. I do have a feeling the extension on the South end could be affected by rain/runoff at times, which would render it unwise for use.

AirNav info lists the runway as 2200' x 150', but it likely hasn't been updated in a while.

 

[Greg Bockelman]

The sand trap would make me nervous.

 

[Greg Bockelman]

BTW, Google Earth has a pretty accurate ruler that can tell you how long the strip is. Exactly where is this?

 

[SoonerAviator]

BTW, Google Earth has a pretty accurate ruler that can tell you how long the strip is. Exactly where is this?

I was using the Google maps measurements for my estimate of 3K ft not including the 800' extension on the South end. 93OK is the airport as far as I can tell, but it shows having been opened in 1998 and data probably hasn't been updated since.

 

[SoonerAviator]

The sand trap would make me nervous.

Even worse I believe it's water, not sand. Just muddier/shallower.

 

[WDD]

That extension looks to be the same width as the other taxi ways. Seems odd - maybe it's for maintenance vehicles? Those "smudges" at the end of the extension could be sheds?? Or maybe just a displaced threshold / runway run off. If so, seems odd that it is narrower than the runway.

 

[SoonerAviator]

That extension looks to be the same width as the other taxi ways. Seems odd - maybe it's for maintenance vehicles? Those "smudges" at the end of the extension could be sheds?? Or maybe just a displaced threshold / runway run off. If so, seems odd that it is narrower than the runway.

Yeah it's a bit tough to get too much detail with Google Maps. I'll go out to look at the land this weekend I'm sure and we'll get more info about it. I know the "community fee" takes care of the runway and paved entrance maintenance. Not sure how many of the homes currently have active aircraft and whatnot, but it is within 6 or 7 miles of 2K9 (Two Dogs) which is a pretty vibrant local airport and has a good EAA chapter.

 

[Racerx]

Looks....interesting... Worth a low pass. Call up the owner and see what flys out of there. Google Earth is a sweet app. Use it all the time for e scouting before hunting season

 

[Half Fast]

Those ponds would make me wonder how often the strip is wet/muddy/soft and unusable. Worth further investigation.

 

[455 Bravo Uniform]

I was using the Google maps measurements for my estimate of 3K ft not including the 800' extension on the South end. 93OK is the airport as far as I can tell, but it shows having been opened in 1998 and data probably hasn't been updated since.

93OK? This is what I see on FF:

 

[Racerx]

93OK? This is what I see on FF:
View attachment 122846

Roughly 3/4 miles south of that.

 

[SoonerAviator]

93OK? This is what I see on FF:
View attachment 122846

I could be mistaken that this was 93OK, as I was just using info from Airnav and it isn't that accurate, but nothing else was listed in this area, and your screenshot is less than a mile away from this other community.

 

[Dana]

Depends on the airplane; what's ho-hum in a Cub could be a problem in a faster plane.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Depends on the airplane; what's ho-hum in a Cub could be a problem in a faster plane.

I'd say C182/PA28/C210 - type airframes are what we would most likely be looking at. Doable on 3K' I'd think if you're flying the numbers, but hot/humid days could pose an issue if heavily loaded.

 

[Steamflyer]

I'd say C182/PA28/C210 - type airframes are what we would most likely be looking at. Doable on 3K' I'd think if you're flying the numbers, but hot/humid days could pose an issue if heavily loaded.

C182/C210 should have no issues working out of 2000’. The Cherokees in my experience tend to use a little more runway, but again, 2000’ is still generally ok - this appears to be quite a bit longer than that. Note that Cherokees come with 150-235 hp, so it’s hard to generalize that breed.

Many grass strips have times or seasons where parts or all of the strip may be questionable for use.

 

[SoonerAviator]

C182/C210 should have no issues working out of 2000’. The Cherokees in my experience tend to use a little more runway, but again, 2000’ is still generally ok - this appears to be quite a bit longer than that. Note that Cherokees come with 150-235 hp, so it’s hard to generalize that breed.

Many grass strips have times or seasons where parts or all of the strip may be questionable for use.

That time of year would be called Spring in OK, lol. All dependent on the grading and ability to shed water for that strip I'm sure.

 

[pburger]

Looks nice to me. It narrows to 50' between those ponds, but shouldn't be a problem. I like it!!!

 

[Garee]

I don’t see a problem at all with that runway, but then again, my farm strip is 2000’x60’……..

 

[jesse]

I would do a little legal digging and look for any lawsuit history between the various owners there. Some airport communities are great. Others are an absolute nightmare full of type a people constantly suing each other over very silly issues.

 

[Zeldman]

Others are an absolute nightmare full of type a people constantly suing each other over very silly issues.

I am suing because you used the word ''silly''...

But yes, that is a good idea.

 

[SoonerAviator]

I would do a little legal digging and look for any lawsuit history between the various owners there. Some airport communities are great. Others are an absolute nightmare full of type a people constantly suing each other over very silly issues.

Good advice. Definitely want to make sure there weren't any big disputes about how things were being run. The way the documents read, it seems like someone bought this parcel about a year or two ago, and is now selling it for roughly about what it was purchased for. Hopefully it wasn't because of disagreements or difficulties with existing ownership.